Hello and welcome to Davis Tackle Throop Report, well its nice to be back on the banks of the River Stour, all raring to go, gathering all the info and the fish catches to start off the week, but guess what, apart from one 6lb chub from an anonymous angler, I could not get any other catch reports, even after phoning the other bailiffs on all the beats, so I will go it alone and catch loads of fish for the Monday report, I fished for the last couple of hours without so much as a bite, the swim that I chose, was one that I was watching Saturday for over an hour, on that day the fish were topping and rolling, possible bream and roach, but today it was as dead as a doornail, apart from one or two leaping sea trout.

The difference between the two days, was the heavy rainfall that we had on Sunday that put on 3 inches of extra water bringing down lots of weed that was playing havoc in some swims, there is a slight tinge of colour in the water, but a drop in temperature has certainly put the dampers on Mondays fishing.

Tuesday saw me back on the banks, this time I was playing a game called, SPOT THE ANGLER, believe it or not there were just two anglers fishing, one was Dave Treadwell who was given the day off work to celebrate his 43rd birthday, well he got his birthday present, his brolly was blown in the river, the good news is that it should find its way to the harbour without too much trouble, as the river is now up and racing in a nice chocolate colour, but all is not lost for Dave as he caught one of the smallest chub in the river, especially after the many 7lb fish that he has caught, along with a 16lb Barbel from the Royalty, ah well, Happy Birthday Dave.

Further along the river, Coventry lad Stuart Rhodes landed his first double figure barbel, a lovely fish of 10lb 8oz, Stuart is now very happy after being stuck for 5 years on a PB of 9lb 4ozs,well done Stuart, a day to remember and a new PB.

Wednesday and I just can't get it right with the weather, I walk the banks in the sunshine in the morning checking permits, I then go home, have some lunch, pick up all my fishing tackle and arrive back on the banks, set everything up, and 15 minutes later the sky opens up, and down comes the rain, so hard its unfortunately a brolly job, and don't you just hate it when two good bites are followed by the thump of the rod hitting the dam brolly, yes I did miss the fish. I did manage a chub of 5lb 2oz on the last knockings, elsewhere it was the same story, bites few and far between, there were a couple of chub caught around the 5lb mark but not much else. The water has a nice tinge of colour and the water temperature was 52f / 11.1 c, and that should have had the fish crawling up the rods, so after a few phone calls all I got from the other anglers was, because the air temperature had dropped, their hands were cold...ah bless. I would like to point out that from my house, I can walk to the riverbank in 4 minutes, how lucky is that.

Thursday saw the river rising with lots of weed coming down, there were hardly any anglers fishing today, but one angler who was fishing the hard conditions was big fish ace and guide Chris Holley, who landed three chub, one of an estimated 4lb, one over 5lb and a fabulous fish that hit the scales at dead on the magical 7lb, well done Chris.

Friday and the river is now rising fast, it's now up another 18inches, very coloured with lots of weed coming down, with a temperature of 49.9f / 9.9c.

One incident that is worth reporting was what happened to Chris Holley, back on the banks for his second day he was fishing with three lobworms when he had a tremendous bite, on striking and missing, he retrieved his tackle to find that his bait had been decimated, one lobworm was in half, and the other two had been completely sucked out, just leaving the outer skins, similar to a you know what, or two empty sausage skins, it was at this point that Chris probably solved the mystery, an otter surfaced in his swim to see how he was getting on......time to move swims.

Elsewhere on the river was big barbel ace and guide Trefor West (that's how you spell his name), who was with a party of anglers, most of the lads struggled, but it was the master who led the way with his 372nd double figure barbel, a nice fish of 11lb 3oz....just image, 372 double figure barbel, that is some achievement, well done Trefor.

Just coming up to last knockings it was Chris Holley on his third trip reported in a lovely chub of 7lb 1oz, well done Chris, better than sucked out lobworms.

Saturday and most anglers were fishing around the weir and the Millpool, School bridge and further downstream was pretty empty, the river has now dropped about 12/18 inches after being almost to the top of the banks, the colour is still there and the water temperature is the same as yesterday at 49.9f / 9.9c, there were just a couple of small chub that were reported, one angler who was roving and using that great technique, trotting a float using a centre pin did manage to catch a few small roach, but apart from that it was very quiet which was a bit surprising as the river looked good for barbel, so much so that I decided to give this weekend a go.

I arrived at 2.15pm to fish to the last knockings, I fished the same swim that I had fished on Friday evening, my first cast resulting in snagging an underwater tree that must have grown during the night, or it could have been Dave Treadwell's bloody umbrella that took a rest on its way to the harbour, anyway I had to pull for a break and retackle my end rig, after recasting I was pestered by eels, but my patience was rewarded when my rod tip was pulled right round and I was in contact with one of our whiskered friends, he decided to make a dash for the middle of the river and make his way upstream, it was at this point that he waved goodbye, wished me well and parted company, the hook had pulled out, yes I was gutted, I just sat looking at the rod trying to decided what to do next, shall I take it back to Nigel and tell him that it don't work, no I can't do that, he's bigger than me, I shall just sulk and moan to myself.

Sunday was an awful day for fishing, there was a total of 8 anglers on the banks, not one angler caught any fish, the river is still coloured, the temperature is now 48.4f / 9.1c and the water level has dropped two feet.

I again decided to give it a go especially after losing a fish the day before, I fished the same swim, you know, the one with the tree and umbrella in it, on arriving, there it was, yes there it was, a bloody otter in the swim, perhaps he was after Dave's brolly, oh well I will give it a go, it was a waste of time, not a bite, not even the eels, I gave it an hour before packing up. Remember Sunday is a day of rest.

Just a couple of late catch reports for the week......a 13lb 8oz barbel was caught last Saturday, and Dave Beal, who I will now call Dave the Twitch, hit one of those tiny twitch bites that resulted in a nice barbel of 10lb 8oz, well done Dave and many thanks to you and all that sent in reports.

If you have any fish catches or would like up to date river conditions ring me on 07740 777967 or you can e-mail me on hutch29@btinternet.com please put the subject Throop otherwise they are deleted. Many thanks